The Immorality Clause (10 page)

I went backward a several more photos and examined the comforter. The slight rumpling of the fabric I’d noticed when I was on site appeared consistent with Chuck’s mishap when he tried to undress.

“Go to video. Resume playback.” The coffee was halfway to my lips when I began coughing and had to set the mug down on the table. “Dammit,” I muttered. “Okay, resume playback.”

◦ ◦ ◦

“I know you will,” Wolfe snorted on the video. “Come up with something from the Kamasutra that doesn’t require me to be flexible like some damn Chinese gymnast.”

“I think I know what you want, baby.” Kelly looked down at her own body, cupping her breasts and her pelvis undulated sensually before focusing on Wolfe.

◦ ◦ ◦

I could tell by the way the camera moved slightly left and up, right and down, and then repeated the motion as she walked toward her client that she threw her hips seductively into each step.

He pulled his shirt off, tossing it to the chair out of the camera’s view. Unfortunately, I got Kelly’s view of her kissing him when they came together. First his mouth and then trailing down his hairy body until his dick was front and center in the camera view. I forced myself to watch as the shaft, glistening with wetness, appeared slowly, then disappeared below the camera’s angle, presumably into the robot’s mouth.

◦ ◦ ◦

“Yeah…” Wolfe moaned. “You know what I want.”

Kelly’s arm reached through his legs as she continued to service him and then he took a quick gasp of air. The upper part of the droid’s arm began to move slightly as she fingered him slowly at first and then rapidly. “Oh, God, yes. Jackie won’t do this. Oh, God, I’m gonna— You need to stop for a second or I’m gonna blow.”

◦ ◦ ◦

She pulled back and once again, his dick covered the screen as she slid her arm from between his legs. In the top corner of the camera, I saw Kelly’s hand, three fingers extended and a small amount of feces around the base of each.
I guess that’s what he wanted that his wife wouldn’t do.

I dismissed Wolfe’s sexual preference and picked up my coffee again. Then, out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something. “Pause,” I said. “Rewind ten seconds. Play.”

The video played back. Kelly’s fingers once again came away from Wolfe’s anus. Her head turned to follow Charles and in the split second before her hand disappeared from view, it vibrated and the feces disappeared. “Reverse three seconds. Enlarge upper left quadrant. Play frame by frame.”

The material was there on her fingers and then disappeared. It didn’t look like it fell off; it seemed to evaporate. “Repeat the sequence.”

“Replay the last three seconds in slow motion?” Andi asked.

“Yes. Pay attention to the material on the robot’s fingers.”

Andi took over the video playback, enlarging the section once again and flipping frame by frame until she came to the four frames in question. It was clearly present in the first and the hand was steady enough not to be blurred. In the next frame, the edges of the fingers were blurry and the material reduced. The same thing appeared in the next frame and by the fourth frame, the blurriness had cleared and the material was gone.

“Holy shit.” I laughed at my choice of words. “Andi, save that segment. I don’t know if it’s important, but it’s definitely odd.”

“Got it.”

“Can the CS98 clean itself?” I muttered. It made sense that as advanced as these things were, that they could somehow clean off body fluids, but how?

“I found this information on Cybertronic Solutions’ website,” Andi stated. “The Model CS98 Pleasure Droid can perform limited surface area cleansing to eliminate semi-solid and liquid waste through absorption. This is especially beneficial in multiple partner situations for the removal of expended body fluids. The waste is collected inside subdermal reservoirs and disposed of during normal sanitation procedures.”

“
Hmpf
. That’s interesting,” I muttered, the spark of an idea forming in the back of my mind. “Okay, resume playback.”

◦ ◦ ◦

“Oh, wow,” Wolfe wheezed, as he fell heavily onto the couch, panting. Sweat had already begun to form on his forehead. “I think I need a minute or else I’m only gonna be a minute.” He chuckled at his own joke and Kelly did too.

“Mistress Paxton authorized the use of aerosolized erection enhancements,” the droid’s voice echoed. “You’ve already purchased the product; do you wish to use it at this time?”

“Yeah. You’re just too good, girl.”

“Only because you’re so good to me,” she replied in one of the thousands of clichéd phrases likely loaded into her database.

The silly banter between a paying client and his robotic call girl went on for a few more seconds until Kelly asked again if he’d like to use the ED drug. “Yes, I authorize the use of the drug Amplify, which I purchased at the front desk.”

“And?” she prompted in a tone that reminded me of a school teacher.

“And I’ve read the provided information on possible side effects.”

◦ ◦ ◦

I was glad to see that The Digital Diva followed city and state laws requiring the customer to declare that they understood what they were doing; less paperwork for me. ED aerosols were relatively harmless, but long-term debilitating effects such as the loss of libido and sterilization had been reported.
Thanks, late night television for forcing me to memorize that statement.

Kelly’s opposite hand came into view, causing me to wonder if the self-cleaning also got rid of smells or only the substances on the surface. I’d have to ask Paxton Himura that question. She flexed her wrist and a small puff of mist sprayed into Wolfe’s face. He inhaled deeply and smiled.

Somewhere nearby, music began playing. The music was the same techno crap that they played at the thumper clubs elsewhere on The Lane. The room whirled through the camera’s lens and the view became slightly disorienting as Kelly danced slowly for him at first and then began a frenzied pace. Her view bobbed up and down, the picture across the way becoming indistinct with her movements.

I felt my stomach lurch once again and ran to the sink in the kitchen. “Andi, pause,” I grumbled and waited for the crap in my stomach to come up.

The watery feeling in my mouth never materialized, but I stood there for an extra minute to make sure. The sensation of nausea subsided.
Maybe I need some clean water in my system instead of coffee.

Two glasses of water and three aspirin later I was ready to go back to the video. I sat back roughly into the dining room chair. “Resume playback.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to take it easy for a few hours, boss? You can view these video files any time.”

“I’d love to take it easy,” I replied. “But this killer is out there, without anyone on his tail. I can’t afford to take the day off.” That jogged my memory. “Wait, don’t I have something going on tonight?”

“You are scheduled for your weekly dinner with the Khalil family at 6 p.m. tonight.”

“That’s right. I want to get this video reviewed and my notes in order so I can relax with Amir and Amanda.”

The speaker set into the dining room wall emitted Andi’s equivalent of a sigh. “Resuming playback now.”

“Thanks, Andi… Hey, I promise I’ll take it easy, alright?”

“Okay. I don’t want to hear you complain when you come down sick from exhaustion.”

The video began playing once again and I tried to let my eyes relax and not focus on any particular item. Fixating on the picture frame had caused me to get nauseous the first time.

◦ ◦ ◦

After a few minutes, the droid stopped dancing and stood, turning her body slightly and then her head so Wolfe’s smiling face came into view.

Kelly turned away from the john and bent at the waist. A soft
crtch
noise filled her speakers as she unfastened the straps of her garter belt and they swung into view. She slowly looked at Wolfe around the right side of her hips. His eyes were wide and the camera jiggled slightly for a moment.

Then, she stood up and faced him, tossing her panties at his head. He snatched them and ran the material along his cheek.

“You know what I want,” Kelly ordered.

“Yes…yes,” he pleaded.

◦ ◦ ◦

I watched the top of his head and hairy back for a while as he attempted to pleasure the robot. It was as if he thought she were a real person and would need him to do something like that—unless that was part of his fetish. Maybe it heightened the sexual pleasure for him to go through the complete experience.

Kelly moaned and pretended to orgasm, pulling his head up and holding it against her stomach. Her hand caressed his hair and then she pulled him up gently for more kissing. She led him by the hand to the desk and bent over, the wall mere inches from her nose as Wolfe began to thrust inside of her.

I stared at the wall in front of Kelly, watching in bored fascination as the pattern in the wallpaper became apparent. The factory-produced crosshatch of material weaved together to form the paper that covered the drywall underneath. Every sixth strand of fiber was a muted brown to offset the cream color of the rest of the pattern. I’d never thought about what a woman saw when she was in the position that Wolfe had her in. It wasn’t too exciting.

I checked the timestamp. Charlie had been at it for eight minutes. I refocused on the wall in time to see her view shift. Kelly twisted around and laid her back flat against the desk as Wolfe’s red face came into view. Sweat poured from his head, running down his cheeks. The hair on his chest was matted and pressed flat against his body.
Disgusting
.

He stepped back up to her and both of Kelly’s stiletto heels came into view as she rested her ankles on his shoulders. Wolfe’s head went back and forth in rhythm with his body’s motion and his teeth were bared in animalistic concentration. Finally, he threw his head back and grunted his completion, even howling a little at his own triumph. The ceiling came into view and then moved side to side. She must have been wiggling her hips against him to milk every last drop.

◦ ◦ ◦

“That was amazing, baby,” Kelly said breathlessly.

“Thanks. You were pretty damn good yourself,” Wolfe replied. I cringed when I heard him pull out of her with a wet, sucking sound.

“Ugh, so tired,” he grunted. “I need to sit down for a second. Can you turn the shower on for me?”

She sat up and watched Wolfe lay on the floor.

◦ ◦ ◦

I sat up in the dining room, mimicking her movements. Wolfe lay exactly where Paxton had found his body. This was the moment that I’d been waiting for.

◦ ◦ ◦

“Of course, Charlie. Do you want me to bathe you tonight?”

“No, I need to get back to Jackie and help her close down the shop after the tournament is over.”

“As you wish,” Kelly said as she stepped over Wolfe’s supine form and padded softly into the bathroom. She opened the door and turned on the shower, then closed it gently.

She turned the corner from the bathroom toward the couch and picked her panties up off the arm where Wolfe had left them. She walked slowly to where Wolfe lay naked and straddled him. The angle appeared as if she were staring at his face, but reaching through her legs to play with him. “Do you require anything else tonight, baby? You still have an hour and a half on your credit and it’s non-refundable.”

“Nah, I’m good—
you’re
good. I gotta go back home.”

“Alright. I’ll see you next time.” She bent forward and kissed him deeply on the lips, cupping his face in her hands.

Then Kelly stood and went to the door. Her hand appeared and her fingers wrapped around the knob. She paused for a moment and then went into the hallway, still holding her undergarments. She walked down the hall until she came to a door marked “
Environmental Sanitation
.”

A technician, wearing what appeared to be full protective gear with a mask met her when she walked in. “Station four,” he said in a bored voice.

Kelly walked past several naked droids in various stages of showering and drying off to a shower stall and bent down to remove her red stockings. She straightened up and her hands appeared at the bottom of the screen as she unfastened the front-clasp bra. The droid dropped all of her clothing into a hamper that the tech had rolled over.

◦ ◦ ◦

“Call Paxton Himura,” I ordered.

“Initiating call now.”

After a few rings, she answered. “Hello?”

“Paxton, Detective Forrest.”

“Good morning, Zach. Is everything okay?”

“Maybe. Please tell me that the laundry from Friday night hasn’t been cleaned.”

After a moment, she replied, “It’s been sanitized and already returned to the clothing dispensary for reuse. What’s wrong?”

“Dammit. There’s nothing we can do about it now. I’m watching the video footage of Wolfe’s session and wanted to examine Kelly’s clothing.”

“Why?”

“I’ve got a hunch that I may have missed some evidence on the scene. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”